Someone Who Cares
by RedXGreenFTW
Summary: There aren't many people who care about N, and the boy is often lonely. But then he meets an older boy that he befriends.


**Title:** Someone Who Cares (Chapter One)  
**Fandom:** Pokémon  
**Pairings:** AntiGravityShipping (Ghetsis/Colress) & NaturalChromeShipping (Colress/N)  
**Chapter Rating:** T for slight blood, mild violence and child abuse.  
**Words:** 4000+  
**Summary:** N hasn't had any human friends before. Actually, no human, not even his father, has truly liked him or worried for his well-being. And in turn, N hasn't really liked any human, until he meets someone new.  
**Author's Notes:** This is an AU-ish fanfic in which the events of Black/White do not occur. In this first chapter, N is 7 years old while Colress is 12. The AntiGravityShipping isn't really prevalent in this chapter (because Colress is only 12 for goodness' sake). If you like this and want to see more, let me know :)

The young boy wandered through the long corridors of the grand castle, walking at a slow pace. He sniffled and rubbed his teary eyes with the back of his hand in the otherwise silent hallway. Earlier he had been allowed to play outdoors, and while he was running he tripped and fell, scraping his right knee. He had little tolerance for pain and was still crying over the stinging as he searched for someone to help him. As he walked he glanced down at his knee, but looked away immediately. He couldn't stand the sight of blood. He turned the next corner into another corridor and immediately felt relieved when he found someone familiar.

"Daddy…" the boy started to whimper, but stopped himself. He wiped his eyes again, took a deep breath and approached the tall man he resembled, straightening up a little when he stopped in front of him. Despite the pain in his knee and how scary the thought of bleeding was, he tried not to sound too pathetic. "Father." the boy corrected himself, speaking more clearly now. The man had watched his son since he had come into the hall, and was already irritated with him. It was as if the boy thought he could impress him. "What do you want, N?" Ghetsis grumbled, narrowing his eyes at him. He hoped the boy would take a hint and leave him alone. The sage was busy and didn't want to waste his time dealing with a whiny child.

Unfortunately, N was naïve as always. "I fell and hurt myself…" he said, losing a bit of his composure. He looked up at his father and waited. He waited for him to tell him what to do, or to take him to a doctor, or maybe even help N himself. But Ghetsis did no such thing. Instead, he walked past the boy, feeling no concern for him. "You brought this upon yourself, and now you have to deal with it." he said as he kept walking. But N went after him and tugged on his sleeve. "Daddy, it hurts!" he whined before involuntarily letting out a sob.

Ghetsis pulled away from him before he turned to face him, and N took a few steps back to look up at him. "Stop being so weak." Ghetsis said. "That small scrape is nothing. You should be ashamed to cry over something so insignificant, N. Go to your room and stay there." he said. The sage turned to walk away, but N only cried more. "I'm bleeding!" he sobbed. The man growled and faced N one more time, then raised a hand. N immediately flinched and took a step back, quieting down and shutting his eyes as he braced himself for the hit. But it never came. Ghetsis stood over him, trying not to smile with satisfaction. He's never actually struck the boy, yet he was always terrified that his father would. It was amazing how easy it was to control the boy.

"Don't bother me over something so stupid again." Ghetsis said before finally walking away, leaving N alone in the corridor again. As soon as N could no longer hear his father's footsteps, he let himself start crying quietly again as he kept walking. Maybe he should just go to his room and put up with it. Whatever he did, he couldn't annoy his father like that again. N hoped he didn't even come across him for the rest of the day. Fortunately, he didn't. But he didn't come across anyone else either as he kept walking. He soon found himself in an unfamiliar wing of the castle, and was unsure of how to get back. He had only ever been near his bedroom and his father's office. He had been told not to go off alone, and now he knew why.

N gave up trying to find his way and leaned back against the wall, sliding down to sit on the cold floor. He hugged his knees close to his chest and hid his face in his arms as he started crying again. His knee still hurt, his father was angry with him, and now he was lost inside his own castle. And worse yet, he heard footsteps coming towards him from the other end of the corridor. N tried to curl up and back into the wall a little as he held his breath, certain that his father had come back to punish him. He was too nervous to notice that the footsteps were much lighter than his father's. A person stopped right in front of him, and N bit his cheek, trying to remain silent and still.

"What's the matter?" a gentle voice asked. N blinked and relaxed a little. That was definitely not his father. N looked up at the person in front of him out of curiosity. The person was an older boy that he didn't recognize, with an odd blue streak in his blond hair. N thought he looked like a doctor, with his glasses and white lab coat that was a bit too large for him. "Are you lost?" the older boy asked, kneeling so that they were at eye level. He hadn't seen this child around before.

N remained quiet and nodded his head slowly, staring at the older boy. He seemed friendly, and N already felt that he could trust him. N thought the older boy looked familiar, and realized why. He resembled a prince in a story book that N had once read. It was a book that someone had read to him before bed, a book that he still had in his room. He'd have to have someone read it to him again later.

"Maybe I can help you, then." the older boy said with a smile. He stood up and offered his hand. N unfolded his arms and took it immediately before standing up himself. The older boy frowned when he saw N's knee and the blood that had smeared on his arm. "Did scrape your knee?" he asked as he started walking with him. N nodded his head and finally spoke to him. "I was running outside and I fell…" he told him. The older boy stopped in front of a door and opened it before taking N inside a small doctor's office. "I'll clean it for you," he said, letting go of N's hand. "And I'll put a bandage on. It won't hurt as much then."

"But daddy—um… my father told me to just put up with it… He said I shouldn't be weak, and…" N just trailed off after that, hoping he had said enough. That's when the older boy realized who this child was. He was N, the prince of Team Plasma. And his father, who had apparently left his child to bleed, was Ghetsis. He thought for a second that it might be best to leave this child alone, but thought better of it. If his father wouldn't help him, then he would. "Well," the older boy said, "If your scrape gets dirty, it could get infected and you could be sick. That's why it has to be cleaned."

N watched the older boy take out a first-aid kit. Maybe he was a doctor after all. N sat on the desk chair as he watched the older boy open a packet and take out a sterile cloth. "What's your name?" N asked. The older boy went to the sink and ran the cloth under cold water. "I'm Colress." he said. N thought that was an odd name, but then again so was his own. Colress turned the water off before approaching N, kneeling in front of him. He held his leg as he began to gently press the cloth to his knee, cleaning the wound slowly. N whimpered, and Colress stopped. "It's okay, N." he assured him before he continued. N didn't bother to ask him how he knew his name.

N sniffled a bit as Colress cleaned his knee, but he couldn't complain. No one had ever been this nice to him, this worried for him. Even though they had only just met, Colress was helping him. N's father would never do something like this for him. As Colress focused on cleaning his scrape, N stared at him. He already liked Colress and hoped this wouldn't be their last encounter. Soon Colress finished and tossed the cloth into the garbage bin, then went back to the first aid kit, taking out a bandage and a small tube. "What's that?" N asked, pointing at the tube in his hand.

"It's an ointment. It'll help you heal." Colress said as he knelt before N again. He opened the small tube and took just a bit of the ointment on his fingertip, then spread it over N's scrape. He then opened the bandage and put it on N's knee. Colress looked up at N with a smile. "Better?" he asked. N smiled back and nodded his head before standing up and hugging him. "Thank you mister Colress!" he said. Colress hesitated, then hugged him back. "You're welcome." he said, then pulled away and straightened up. "You said you were lost, right?" he asked.

"Yeah, I wanna go to my room." N said, taking Colress' hand and leading him out of the small doctor's office. Colress knew where the grunts' rooms were located, but not the prince's. "Do you know what part of the castle that's in?" Colress asked. N glanced up and down the corridor. "It's near my daddy's office." he said. Colress did know where Ghetsis' office was located. He started walking, bringing N with him. "I know where that is. Can you find your room from there?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's close to it." he said. They were silent the rest of the way. Colress had brought N to his father's office, but N walked past it. Colress had assumed they'd part ways by now, but he was wrong. It was probably better to make sure N made it to his room okay anyway. Now it was N leading the way, and he didn't stop until they were outside his bedroom door. "I want you to play with me." N said, smiling at him. He wanted to show Colress his train set, and play cars with him, or maybe play basketball with him. He had already decided that Colress just had to play in his room with him. Maybe he would even read that book with the prince to N.

"I don't think I can." Colress said. N's smile immediately vanished. "Why not?" he asked sadly. Colress let go of his hand. "I have to go back to work now." he said. N furrowed his brow at him. Work? What kind of work did he have to do? He was a kid, like he was. A big kid, but still a kid. "Why do you have to work?" N asked. Colress already knew he was late, so he tried to be quick with his answer. "I'm helping in the castle lab over the summer. And I really should be going back now." he said. N still didn't understand why Colress had to work, but could tell that it seemed important. "Well…" he sighed. "Can you play with me after work? Please?" N asked.

"Okay, but only after work in a few hours. I'll come back as soon as I'm done." Colress said. N smiled and hugged him again. He didn't know how long a few hours were, but that didn't matter. Colress smiled a bit and hugged him back, then opened his bedroom door for him. N let go of him and entered his room before waving at Colress. "Bye mister Colress!" he said. Colress waved back before leaving, walking quickly down the hall. He'd try to come back later, but right now he just hoped he wasn't too late returning to the lab. N watched him go before closing his bedroom door, and going over to the pile of Pokédolls that Zorua slept on. "Zorua, wake up, I have to tell you about someone!"

Colress was putting some microscopes away when a Plasma grunt came into the lab and asked for him. The grunt took Colress out of the lab and started leading him through the castle. Colress followed, not sure what to think. He didn't believe anyone had any reason to summon him. He hadn't done anything wrong, had he? No one seemed to care that he had been a bit late returning to the lab. He had been living up to expectations and doing everything he was told in the lab. Maybe someone was going to ask him if he wanted to work part-time after he had returned to school? The summer was almost over, after all. If that was the case, he wasn't sure what he should say. On the one hand, he should feel flattered that they'd want to keep him longer. On the other hand, that meant less time to study.

Colress noticed that the grunt had led him to a familiar part of the castle that he had been to today. Of course, his work was just about over. N must have ordered someone to bring Colress to him. But the grunt didn't lead him to N's room. He stopped right in front of Ghetsis' office. Now Colress really wasn't sure what to think. He had only seen Ghetsis a few times, but he had heard a lot about him. It seemed that most people working under the sage were terrified of him. Colress heard rumors of Ghetsis sending people to their deaths, but Colress didn't believe that. His parents would never work for a man like that; they were both ingenious researchers who could find jobs at any other laboratory if that was the case.

The Plasma grunt knocked on the door three times in quick succession, and the door was unlocked. The grunt opened it and gestured for Colress to enter. The boy did, and looked back when the door had been closed behind him. Then he took a look around his boss' office for the first time. There were no shelves or photographs to be seen. Ghetsis' desk was barren, aside from a control panel of buttons on the side. But covering the wall from floor-to-ceiling behind the sage's desk was nothing but monitors. There was a large one in the middle, and smaller ones surrounding it. As Colress skimmed over them, he figured there must be cameras all over the castle; in the corridors, in the laboratories, on the roof, outside the castle walls, in several offices, in what appeared to be holding cells and even in some bedrooms.

The boss himself was seated at his desk with his back to the boy, watching one monitor in particular. He usually gave them all equal attention; he wanted to be aware of absolutely everything that was happening within his organization. He wanted to be certain that every last grunt was working nearly non-stop, that any and all slackers were dealt with. Colress thought it was both disturbing and intriguing that the man kept an eye on everything. There really was no privacy in the building, and it really showed how much of a control freak the sage was. But it also showed how much he demanded perfection in his organization, which was admirable.

"Colress." the sage said, pulling the boy out of his thoughts. Colress looked at the back of his chair, as the sage still didn't turn to face him. "Yes sir?" he asked, stepping a bit closer to the desk. Ghetsis reached over to the control panel and paused all of the monitors. "What is this?" he asked. Colress looked over the monitors again. He couldn't see anything worth taking note of. It just looked like everyone was at work, just as the sage wanted. "It looks like everyone is doing their job, sir." Colress said. Ghetsis pressed another few buttons and all of the smaller monitors shut down, leaving the larger one the only one playing. It was footage of Colress helping N with his knee. He had noticed that before, but didn't think that's what the sage was trying to bring attention to.

"Everyone but you." Ghetsis said. "You were late returning to the lab you've been assigned to because you stopped during your break for the prince. Why did you think that was a good idea?" he asked, finally turning to look at the boy. Colress blinked at him. Was there a problem with helping a hurt child? Even if Colress had been late, he had a good reason, didn't he? Colress didn't understand what the problem was. "He was crying, sir. Leaving him alone like that would have been cruel." he explained.

"Exactly." Ghetsis said, standing up. He went around his desk to stand in front of Colress to intimidate him. It seemed to work, as the boy took a couple steps back. But Colress only did that because he liked having his own personal space and because the man was freakishly tall. "N told you that he was ordered to take help from no one, didn't he?" Ghetsis continued. "He was supposed to deal with that little scratch himself and find his own way around the castle. But you went out of your way to help him. And he accepted it. I hope you realize you'll both be punished for this."

Colress just stared at him. This man, the leader of Team Plasma, was going to punish two children? It was more than ridiculous. It was just wrong. Colress had just helped N, who was Ghetsis' son, and N let him. "Why?" Colress asked. "I was only helping your son, which you should have done yourself." he said. Colress almost immediately regretted saying those words, but it was too late to take them back now. Still, he felt like it was necessary to say. Ghetsis didn't. The sage slapped the boy across the face, sending him to the floor. Colress was dazed a bit and just lay there for a few moments. He'd never been struck before and couldn't take a hit very well. Soon he slowly sat up, his cheek throbbing. There would definitely be a bruise.

"Your pay will be deducted by half." Ghetsis said, narrowing his eye at the boy. Colress looked up at him. He was already being paid minimum wage. Working for any less would be illegal. But so was hitting a child, wasn't it? Colress had a feeling the man before him didn't care much for obeying many laws. "And if you think you can complain or tell your parents about it, I'll deduct their pay as well. And I'll extend N's punishment." Ghetsis said. He wasn't sure if Colress would care or not, but from the look of worry on the boy's face, Ghetsis at least had his attention.

"He's in solitude right now." Ghetsis said, and went to change the monitor to one of the holding cells. N was sitting in the corner, curled up as he had been when Colress found him earlier. He was alone in the cell, and there wasn't so much as a toilet or sleeping mat. "He'll be in there for the night. Don't make me consider extending his time in there." Ghetsis said. Now Colress knew why so many people were afraid of Ghetsis. The man was inhumane and insane. He'd put his own son in solitary confinement because he accepted the help of a stranger. "If your parents weren't expecting you, I'd put you in one for the night as well." Ghetsis said.

Colress knew Ghetsis wasn't lying. And he was starting to believe that the man actually has killed people before. The boy wanted to tell the man just how wrong this was and how crazy he is, but he bit his tongue. Nothing he could say would make any of this better. Colress just nodded his head. Ghetsis spoke again. "Now leave. Come up with some sort of excuse as to why there's a bruise on your face and why your glasses are broken." he said, then went to sit in his desk again.

Colress hadn't even noticed his glasses were missing from his face. Now that he did, he saw how things were out of focus. Colress felt around the floor until he felt some glass, and he picked it up. But it was just a shard of glass. He tossed it away before continuing his search. He eventually felt them, and picked them up before trying them on. The glass was shattered, and wearing them only seemed to make things worse. Colress just pocketed his glasses and stood up. He should be able to find his way without them.

Colress went to the door and stopped to look back at Ghetsis. The man had sat down and turned on the monitors again, watching everyone like a Mandibuzz. Ghetsis reached over to the control panel and pressed a button, and Colress heard the door unlock. He opened it and left the office without looking back. He eventually found his way back to the lab, where his parents had been waiting for him. They immediately asked him about the bruise and about his glasses, and Colress simply put it off and said he'd tell them what happened when they got home.

N yawned and curled up on the floor of his cell. He didn't even have the energy to cry anymore; all he wanted to do was sleep. It was hard to do on the cold, hard floor, and he lay awake for what felt like hours. He couldn't tell if it was night time yet because there were no windows, and even if there was a clock he didn't know how to tell time yet. Maybe Colress could teach him tomorrow. They'd be allowed to see each other then, right? N knew he'd only be left in the cell for the night. And it's not like his father would be mean enough to punish Colress too, right?

A Plasma grunt opened the cell door and set down a tray of food. That let N know that it was only dinner time, and nowhere near bed time just yet. "Mister?" N asked just before the grunt left, sitting up. "Do you know where Colress is? He's older than me and wears glasses and—"

"He left already." the grunt interrupted him. Even he knew who Colress was. He was a kid that skipped a few grades in school and was offered part-time work in the labs after his parents put in a good word for him. He was the only child to ever work for Team Plasma. The grunt didn't know why N wanted anything to do with him, though. Before N asked anymore questions, he left the boy alone in his cell, locking it again.

N bit his cheek and tried not to cry again. It was a bit mean and selfish, but he wished that Colress was in the cell with him. Wouldn't Colress be punished for what happened today to? N didn't think he should have been, but he wanted him to be. Anything to be with Colress and not alone in the cell right now. It wouldn't have been that bad for either of them if they were in there together. Maybe if N was really good tomorrow, his father would let him and Colress play together. But for now, N just ate his food and thought about how much better tomorrow would be.


End file.
